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Got a Subaru 1.8 as a newbie project. A few Q's please.


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Hello. I was just given a 1.8 NA engine, totally disassembled, and am having difficulty with first step. I'm a Ford type, so I'm diving into Subie territory. Please be gentle with me. I have been searching, and searching for info.

 

I believe its out of a 91 Impreza.

 

First: Best web place to ID this block?  All I can see is cast numbers: 92-2-4 on one half, 91-2-3 on the other.

 

and AA 22212 I can figure out eventually. Any other numbers I should look for? I cant find any Serial numbers....

 

I appreciate your pointing in the direction of a good place or book for research.

 

Thanks.

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there are two 1.8 liter Subaru engines that are vastly different offered in the early 1990's.  yours is the newer of the two - an EJ18 found in early 1990's imprezas.

all EJ18's are essentially the same as far as I'm aware so ask specific questions as you have them.

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Thanks guys. Again, this was a gift of a totally dissassembled engine given to me in boxes.  I see I also have a knock sensor and am now told the engine came from a '97 Impreza.

 

I am doing a year's worth of reading getting up to speed but this helps me figure out if this is worth a $400 rebuild budget (including 2.2 heads).

 

So here we go:

   Can I find out from the dealer what car this came out of via the serial numbers? 

   Looking at the block cast numbers of 91-2-3 and 92-2-4 do I have 2 different engine's block halves?

   And having the numbers AA 22212 and AB on the other block half could roughly guide me as to where to place the pistons? They came disassembled from the rods.

   And regarding the above, knowing rods, pistons, etc are all apart, should I need to balance the rotating assembly all over again? Or if the assembled piston assembly all          weigh within a gram of each other I could theoretically skip balancing right? Or am I off on this one.

 

Kindly appreciated.

Edited by Ponypuffprincess
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I don't know the situation and I could be way off base. You do realize that these engines are easily available for very little money if you shop right. There really isn't a good finacial reason to re-assemble these. From the looks of the crankshaft in the picture this engine will need some attention before it put back together. I would polish and mic the crank at the very minimum. I am not trying to offend you or rain on your project in any way.  It could be a good learning experience ;)

 

Good Luck!

Edited by Crazyeights
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Crazyeights, thanks for your candor.  I had a nice review of the parts with my machinist and we came to the conclusion the block needed honing at $80, the crank needed grinding at $175 and then there's rings, bearings, seals. About the same $ as a used low mile 1.8 engine. Alls to be gained from rebuilding is the knowledge that there's new parts and I know the condition intimately.

 

With the research I've done on Subie flat 4s, I've learned alot and still think my 1800 lb kit will do well with my chosen plan. Just maybe not this box of parts.

 

I am thinking this'll be parted out and take the $$ toward a great 1.8 long block.

 

Thanks for you all's input. I'll be looking around now.

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I bought an EJ22E last year that was pulled from a wreck (so I knew it ran). The car was beautiful so I knew that they probably maintained it. It had 143,000 miles on it at the time of the wreck. I paid $250.00 plus tax from Pick-N-Pull with a 1 year extra warranty. It was complete with all the accessories. It turned out to be a great engine! It's in my Loyale right now in fact.

 

You should win either way in my opinion!

Have Fun ;)

Edited by Crazyeights
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+1, i almost said the same thing but i get the interest in rebuilding or considering it.

 

could you rering a known good block rather than a full on rebuild?  then you'd be able to mitigate oil usage which is the big detriment to used Subaru engines. 

getting 100,000+ miles out of a used EJ18 or EJ22 = easy.

doing that without needing to add oil between oil changes is a different story. not a big deal - but for someone wanting to really assure themselves as your description insinuates...just thinking out loud.

Edited by grossgary
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